Why San Francisco bested Baltimore for 'Diner' musical premier

(Sun file photo and Justin…)

March 23, 2012|By Jill Rosen | The Baltimore Sun

News broke the other day that "Diner" the musical would premiere in San Francisco.

The show's producers trumpeted the news with much fanfare, going on and on about their excitement to open the Barry Levinson/Sheryl Crow collaboration -- which is all about BALTIMORE -- all the way over there on that whole other coast.

As the city stewed, it wasn't long before Baltimore Insider got an email from a Mr. Dale Kaplan. "I do not understand why 'Diner' would not open in Baltimore rather than San Francisco," he wrote. "It does not make any sense."

Kaplan, you might be on to something.

In an effort to help him out, Baltimore Insider posed the question to Twitter and also to the rest of the Sun newsroom. Why indeed is "Diner" debuting in San Francisco instead of Baltimore?

Behold the theories:

Jessica O'Neill @jinxica: Because their old Bay is better known than our Old Bay.

Katherine Mellendick @karamelkit: Because Barry Levinson left his heart there.

Jordan Bartel: Because when I think about 20-something straight guys reminiscing about high school, my mind immediately jumps to San Francisco. Or!!! Because Steve Guttenberg’s also known as the San Francisco treat.

John McIntyre: Hey, the Colts are gone, so it might as well be anywhere.

Pete Sweigard: They wanted to premier in the greatest city in America instead of the “Greatest City in America.”

Richard Gorelick: The setting has been updated to a 1970s leather bar.

Jamie Smith Hopkins: They got confused about which city on the bay the story is set in.

Gus Sentementes: The cast is averse to scrapple.

A few more from Insider:

-- Needed four-week opening run over there to perfect the Balmer accent